Pick a camera you like. Scour the internet for reviews. If there are glaring flaws, pick another camera. If you're satisfied, scour the internet some more (e.g. clubsnap forums) to find a good price + good store + good service.

Steve1960 wrote:Thank you, I had been to that site. The problem is that the more reviews I read the more I talk myself out of wanting a particular camera based on the inevitable negatives the reviewer has to find.

The best way is to try the camera myself but thats not very practical in a shop.

I am hoping to find an enthusiast with first hand experience of a decent camera. Even then its open to personal preference and perception of course.

I own(ed) close to 20 digital cameras and also still do analogue medium format photography and all I do I go to the already mentioned site:

do the search on functions/options (they have excellent search engine), read the review, take a look at the included samples, look for some further raw samples on Internet and that's it. I was never disappointed with any camera I have chosen this way.

Your initial message:

Having made two horrible badly researched purchases of cheap digital cameras in the last 12 months I am going for third time lucky.

Why it was a bad choice?

Any enthusiasts out there who would offer a recommendation?

I am not looking for a DSLR, more a higher end compact zoom camera. Wish list GPS, WiFi, decent optical zoom and decent size image sensor.

Considering the Sony HX20V.

Not enough data on what do you want it for. My current everyday camera (always with me in my rucksack) is Canon PS SX230 HS. It's not a champion of optics and the GPS is not working very well but it is what I expected to have and it matches the price tag and the purpose I bought it for. So again, what do you really want this for? An universal camera for every occasion? You will never be satisfied.

Good quality shots of my wife and daughter, need fast shutter response and what do they call it, the ability to shoot consecutive frames quickly, as I am constantly frustrated that my daughter moves faster than the pic I am trying to take.

Holiday snaps and would like the GPS tag to identify where the shots were taken.

Double as a good quality camcorder to save having two pieces of equipment.

Functionality to match or beat my Samsung Galaxy IIS smart phone, my wife particularly likes being able to take a picture and post it immediately on Facebook. Not my thing but it makes her happy.

Finally, I would like to improve my ability in photography and start experimenting a little to see if I would like to take it up as a hobby.

If you're not a pro or semi-pro, I recommend Amazon or Newegg reviews. That's where I send my relatives who ask me these things. They're written by real world people like you or I, not too dumbed down, but also not by camera snobs.

I personally go to Amazon once I'm pretty settled on something I like, click "Most Helpful Critical" reviews and read those. I discount any 1 Stars for silly things like "OMG IT WAS BROKEN WHEN I OPENED IT" because no matter what you buy, of any product, will have DOAs and look through for the real flaws that sound like design flaws. Unless of course there are thousands of people with DOAs. Then I might research more carefully.

zzm9980 wrote:If you're not a pro or semi-pro, I recommend Amazon or Newegg reviews. That's where I send my relatives who ask me these things. They're written by real world people like you or I, not too dumbed down, but also not by camera snobs.

I personally go to Amazon once I'm pretty settled on something I like, click "Most Helpful Critical" reviews and read those. I discount any 1 Stars for silly things like "OMG IT WAS BROKEN WHEN I OPENED IT" because no matter what you buy, of any product, will have DOAs and look through for the real flaws that sound like design flaws. Unless of course there are thousands of people with DOAs. Then I might research more carefully.

Steve1960 wrote:Good quality shots of my wife and daughter, need fast shutter response and what do they call it, the ability to shoot consecutive frames quickly, as I am constantly frustrated that my daughter moves faster than the pic I am trying to take.

Canon PS SX230 HS has full manual mode including manual focus. Of course it has aperture and time priority as well. It has continuous shouting so you can shoot without realizing the button from 1 to 8 fps (depending on the mode).Good quality is subjective. If I want good quality I take Canon 40D with EF 1.8/50mm (dirty cheap lens).

Holiday snaps and would like the GPS tag to identify where the shots were taken.

For Canon PS SX230 HS it takes up to a few minutes to get a fix from cold start. Later it works fine. It inserts the coordinates also to the movies (metadata). Not sure how is it with different cameras.

Double as a good quality camcorder to save having two pieces of equipment.

Functionality to match or beat my Samsung Galaxy IIS smart phone, my wife particularly likes being able to take a picture and post it immediately on Facebook. Not my thing but it makes her happy.

This Canon PS SX230 HS alone will not do but you can buy these SD wifi cards I guess.

Finally, I would like to improve my ability in photography and start experimenting a little to see if I would like to take it up as a hobby.